‘It had the prettiest effect possible’: A children’s ball is held at Buckingham Palace

One of the cutest events to take place during the happier years of Queen Victoria’s reign is the children’s costume ball, which took place at Buckingham Palace on 7^th April 1859 in honour of Prince Leopold’s sixth birthday.

Born in 1853, Prince Leopold was the eighth child and youngest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Early on it was clear that the boy had his inherited his father’s great intellect, a characteristic that was much celebrated by the queen. However, the state of the young boy’s health was far from a celebration and was nothing like that of his eight siblings, or even his parents. From the moment he learnt to crawl and walk, it was noticed that Leopold was constantly covered in bruises and even the smallest of cuts and scrapes would take especially long to heal. When he was aged five, the prince was finally diagnosed with the blood clotting disease, haemophilia. As the first member of his family to suffer the illness, everyone was unsure how it should be managed. Like any concerned parent (with an added sprinkling of hypochondria), Queen Victoria decided that no one could get too close to Leopold and that he shouldn’t participate in physical activities that could lead to any unwanted bleeds. As a result, Leopold went on to live an isolated childhood, watching his siblings have fun whilst he sat on the side-lines. With this in mind, the children’s ball that took place on his sixth birthday becomes a much more poignant occasion as it was perhaps one of the last times that the prince was allowed to innocently embrace such folly.

Queen Victoria welcomed ‘our good little Leopold’s 6^th birthday’ (1) with great relief for his health. ‘He is thank God much stronger & more robust’ (2), she confided in her journal before making her way to the school room, where her ‘clever, honest & well intentioned boy’ (3) was undergoing his lessons. From there, Victoria and Albert accompanied their son to the breakfast room, where his gifts had been displayed. Just as it should, the whole day was centred on the celebration, with the royal children patiently sitting through a family luncheon with the anticipation of the upcoming ball.

In the spirit of any children’s party, each child was encouraged to wear fancy dress. After finishing her grand dinner, Queen Victoria went to the nursery to see her children as they got ready. Of the Queen’s nine children only five were attending, four of which were in costume. Just weeks away from her confirmation and her official entrance into society, Princess Alice was too old to wear costume as all eyes would be on her as she prepared for adulthood. However, Princesses Helena and Louise and Princes Arthur and Leopold were dressed up in outfits described as ‘very amusing’ by their mother.

Aged 12 and 10, the two princesses were dressed identically as Swiss peasants. Unlike the clothes worn by true peasants, the girls’ dresses were made out of a stunning light blue silk, edged with a trim of red velvet, which sat over layers of petticoats. The bodice of the dressed were decorated by panels of black velvet and steel ornaments, leading down to an apron of white linen, which had been decorated by red ribbons. The same ribbons were used to hold their plaited hair into place. Adding to the style of ‘Swiss peasants’, was the chemisette and puffed sleeves of white cambric, which had been decorated with a high-necked collar of matching black velvet. Like their dresses, their shoes were also made out of blue silk and decorated to match the bodice. When it came to accessories, Helena and Louise wore dangling earrings, black lace mittens and straw hats, which had been adorned with red roses. Whilst the costumes were much more luxurious than those worn by true peasants, the two princesses truly looked the part.

Just like their sisters, Princes Arthur and Leopold wore equally extravagant outfits. The two boys were dressed as the two sons of King Henry IV, which were inspired by the costumes worn by actors in the final scene of Richard Kean’s ‘Richard II’, which was performed at Windsor Castle in February 1857. The main part of their outfit was a white satin tunic and blue velvet cape, which was split into two separate designs. On their right side the garment had been decorated with gold braiding and on that foot they wore a white shoe with marching decorations. On the left, the costume had been trimmed with silver. The shoe on the left foot was blue to match the cape and, like the corresponding side of the tunic, was decorated with silver braiding. Like any costume, the boys needed accessories and their attire was completed with a pair of white gloves and a blue velvet bonnet, again decorated with silver and gold fringe.

As the 234 guests began arriving at around 8:30, Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, their children and several other relations who were visiting from Germany gathered in the white Drawing Room. Once everyone had arrived, the children – aged between 6-14, all of whom ‘with but a few exceptions… were very well & becomingly dressed’ (4) in elaborate costumes – accompanied by their parents, gathered in the Picture Gallery, waiting for the Queen’s grand entrance. At 9pm the Queen and her family led their illustrious guests into the newly built Banqueting Hall, where the ball was to take place. Dancing started almost instantly after the Queen was settled in her seat. With Victoria’s private band playing, the ball opened with a polonaise, in which each dressed up child participated. ‘It had the prettiest effect possible … a charming sight’ the Queen later recorded in her journal. As the evening progressed, the children danced a variety of ‘valses, gallops, & a country dance’ (5), with the music playing non-stop all evening until midnight, when the ball was concluded by a supper.

‘It was really a very pretty fête,’ Victoria later confided to her journal, adding that ‘the children all enjoyed it so much, [though] no one more, than little Leopold’. (6)

 © Queen.Victoria.Roses 2026

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Citation:

(1-6) RA VIC/MAIN/QVJ (W) 7 April 1859 (PRINCESS BEATRICE’S COPIES) retrieved 21 April 2026 Royal Collection Trust / © King Charles III

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